Europe ETF Flows: What's Happening in 2026?

The European exchange-traded fund and exchange-traded commodities market attracted EUR 47.3 billion of flows in July, up from EUR 36.8 billion in June. That brings total inflows for the first seven months of 2026 to nearly EUR 266 billion. 

Here, we’ll take a closer look at where investors are putting their money, from asset classes to ETF providers. 

This article is adapted from the recent report published by Morningstar Manager Research. The Morningstar European Open-End and ETF Flows report is available to download for free. 

European open-end funds and ETFs, excluding money market funds, gathered EUR 204.3 billion of net inflows in the third quarter of 2026, a five-year high. The result topped the EUR 196.0 billion collected in the second quarter and narrowly exceeded the EUR 203.5 billion gathered in the first quarter. Through September, year-to-date flows reached EUR 603.7 billion, already approaching 2025's full-year total of EUR 634.5 billion.  

Equity funds attracted the largest share of investor demand, drawing EUR 107.8 billion in new assets. Fixed-income funds followed with EUR 51.9 billion, while real-asset strategies gathered EUR 13.2 billion, fueled largely by demand for precious metals exposure and infrastructure-related investments.

Equity funds were the clear winners during the third quarter as investors continued allocating capital toward broad market exposure. Global large-cap blend equity funds attracted EUR 43.1 billion, while U.S. large-cap blend equity funds gathered EUR 36.3 billion. Together, those two categories accounted for roughly three quarters of all equity-fund inflows during the quarter. 

Investor demand also remained strong for technology-focused strategies, though the report measures these flows through two different classification frameworks. Within the sector-equity universe, Technology Equity funds led all sector categories with EUR 10.0 billion in net inflows, reflecting continued demand for companies benefiting from digitalization, cloud computing, semiconductors, and artificial intelligence-related growth trends. 

Within the report's separate thematic-fund universe, technology-oriented themes attracted EUR 1.8 billion. Artificial Intelligence & Big Data strategies led thematic technology flows with EUR 650 million, followed by Cyber Security (EUR 596 million) and Robotics & Automation (EUR 300 million). These results suggest that investors continued allocating capital not only to broad technology-sector exposure but also to more targeted technology themes. 

At the same time, investors continued rotating away from growth-oriented equity styles. Global large-cap growth funds experienced EUR 13.1 billion in outflows, while global large-cap value funds attracted EUR 6.3 billion, reflecting increased demand for companies with stronger valuations and more defensive characteristics. 

For comprehensive data on EMEA ETFs and ETCs, the best-performing funds, and those that attracted the most investments, check out the Europe ETF Monthly Flows Roundup.

Fixed-income investors increasingly favored very ultra-short-duration assets and inflation-protected strategies during the third quarter as concerns about inflation and interest-rate volatility persisted.  

EUR ultrashort-term bond funds attracted EUR 6.3 billion, rebounding sharply from second-quarter outflows. USD ultrashort-term bond funds gathered another EUR 3.4 billion, recording their strongest quarterly intake in a year as investors sought yield without taking significant duration risk.  

Inflation-linked bond funds also remained in demand, attracting EUR 1.9 billion during the quarter and extending a three-quarter inflow streak. Year-to-date flows into inflation-linked strategies reached EUR 6.3 billion, with passive vehicles accounting for most of the demand.  

In contrast, flexible bond strategies fell out of favor. The global flexible bond USD-hedged category lost EUR 2.3 billion, marking its first quarterly outflow since mid-2023 and its worst quarter since June 2022. Several other flexible bond categories also experienced notable redemptions.  

Passive strategies continued to dominate European fund flows during the third quarter. Passive funds attracted EUR 140.2 billion, more than twice the amount gathered by active funds, which collected EUR 64.0 billion. Most passive demand was concentrated in equities, where passive funds brought in EUR 101.7 billion.  

Passive ETFs alone absorbed EUR 117.4 billion, representing 57% of all fund flows during the quarter. Investors continued favoring index-based approaches for broad market exposure, particularly within global and U.S. equity categories. 

Although active management maintained a slight advantage in fixed income, that lead continues to narrow. Active bond funds gathered EUR 26.0 billion, compared with EUR 25.9 billion for passive bond funds, the smallest gap between the two approaches in nearly three years.  

BlackRock led all providers with EUR 52.1 billion of net inflows for the quarter. Vanguard followed with EUR 22.8 billion, while Amundi attracted EUR 15.8 billion, underscoring the industry's continued preference for providers with established passive-fund lineups.  

Monitor overall market sentiment, research sector movements, and perform competitive analysis in Morningstar Direct, our investment analysis application.

Morningstar’s fund flows data covers more than 25,800 share classes and 14.6 billion EUR in total net assets across Europe. We also cover funds only offered in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. Stay current on market trends with a comprehensive picture of open-end funds and ETFs.

Morningstar Direct offers daily snapshots as well as historical time-series data at monthly, quarterly, and annual frequencies.